This invention relates generally to the art of extracorporeal blood pumping and oxygenation, and more particularly to the art of acquiring, processing, and displaying data for the purposes of providing information to the attending medical personnel of the condition of a patient and the operating characteristics of the blood pumping and oxygenating devices while at the same time automatically using the acquired and calculated data to accurately control the operation of the various sub-systems which make-up the entire extracorporeal blood pumping and oxygenating system.
At present such extracorporeal blood pumping and oxygenating systems are used almost exclusively in open heart surgical procedures where the normal blood flow through the heart and lungs of the patient is interrupted or bypassed. Even a relatively simple system contains several other devices in addition to the basic blood pump and oxygenator. It is essential for the well being of the patient that every device in the system functions perfectly and that any malfunction be detected and corrected as soon as possible. At present the operation of the devices in the system is monitored visually and controlled by the attending personnel. It is not now possible to continuously monitor, display, and use this data to automatically control the devices in the system. The invention makes it possible to continuously monitor, display and to use the acquired and calculated data to automatically optimize the control and operation of the extracorporeal blood pumping and oxygenating system.
At present there is no method or device available for the medical personnel to use to continuously determine the metabolic oxygen consumption of a patient undergoing a total cardio-pulmonary bypass procedure using an extracorporeal blood pumping and oxygenating system. Continuous knowledge of this physiologic parameter would be of great potential value to both the patient and the attending medical personnel. With the use of this invention, it becomes possible, for the first time, to continuously determine and display the metabolic oxygen consumption of a patient undergoing a total cardio-pulmonary bypass procedure.